The Turtle Feet Creative Learning Center on Belmont Street in Easton is well-stocked with easels, Crayons, paint and other art supplies, just waiting for kids to come use them.

By Matthew Leonido

Aside from a few pictures, the walls are bare, but Katie Cowan hopes they will soon be covered with original works of art.

“I'm hoping to decorate with the kids' art. It would be really neat to color up the walls,” Cowan said.

The Turtle Feet Creative Learning Center on Belmont Street in Easton is well-stocked with easels, Crayons, paint and other art supplies, just waiting for kids to come use them.

One recent Saturday, the children got their first chance to line the walls with art when Turtle Feet introduced itself to the community through a free open house.

The kids enjoyed numerous activities and used art supplies scattered throughout the center to make their own artwork while parents took their first look at how the center works.

“As each child walked through the door, I could see their imaginations kick into gear and a smile come over their faces,” Cowan said.

The center, which Cowan has been preparing to open since July, is named after a piece of art she made as a child during a summer art program at the Fuller Museum of Art on the edge of D.W. Field Park in Brockton. The classes Cowan took at the museum while growing up in Brockton cultivated her interest in art and serve as inspiration for the center.

“As a child, I had a strong interest in anything related to art. Creating something from nothing was a way for me to express myself,” Cowan, 28, said. “During the summer art program, I transformed a rock into a turtle with Popsicle-stick feet. My mother had saved the turtle, and it has now reappeared as the inspiration for Turtle Feet.”

Talking with parents also led Cowan to open the center.

“Those many conversations helped me to understand the desires and goals they have for their children and the challenges they faced in terms of finding means to achieve them,” she said. “Of the most pressing issues were the absence of art programs, the desire to learn academic basics early on, and the illustration of fun while learning. Turtle Feet sits at this crossroad.”

Turtle Feet's courses, which run eight weeks at a time, are designed for children between 3 and 10 years old. They will supplement what students learn in school by combining art concepts with academic fundamentals. Cowan believes Turtle Feet's curriculum will reinforce a child's academic skills by giving them an opportunity to create art and have fun while doing it.

“Directly linking art education to academic skills is important as it gives a child a full and complete learning experience, exercising both sides of the brain at once,” Cowan said.